The following items should be read and
studied carefully. Much care should be taken in writing an ad
so that you
may attract
the largest possible number of potential buyers. If you are
advertising in "For Sale By Owner" magazine, remember,
you can change your ad in every magazine (3 weeks). We recommend
the following guidelines to assist you in writing your ad text:
- Look at advertisements for homes to learn how other sellers write
their ads. A good resource is the current ads in For Sale By Owner
magazine.
- List
the 10 most positive things about your home; then use them.
- Develop
an attention-getting headline or bolded statements.
- Be
aware of your homes' vital statistics other than number of
bedrooms and baths: such as total square footage, tax value,
schools, churches, bus stops, and other community features.
- List
several of the most desirable features of your home. Don't
forget to include features such as: family room (FR), rec.
room, dining room (DR), garage or carport, fireplaces (FP's),
decks,
fencing, storage building/s, landscaping, trees, stream,
etc. Since many buyers purchase homes for emotional reasons,
such
descriptions as "cozy" fireplace, "sunny" deck,
or "sparkling" stream are very effective.
- Emphasize
any features or desirable financing that your home may have.
- Mention
any Open Houses that you hold including the hours the home
will be open. Normal Open House time periods are Sunday
2-5pm. This affords buyers the opportunity to attend religious
services or any other weekend function during the morning,
have lunch and then go to your open house.
- Specify
the number of bedrooms and baths early in the ad. You'll notice
that For Sale By Owner magazine has placed this information
where it is easy for the buyer to find.
- Disclose
the homes approximate location (neighborhood).
- Consider
a theme of urgency in the ad- such as "transfer
forces sale", or "must sell by" to attract
more interest. Only use accurate and honest information.
- Home
prices are usually advertised with either $500 or $900 at
the end (eg. $149,900 or $215,500) Property that is priced
at
$199,900 will look $10,000 cheaper than one marketed at
$200,000.
- Don't
use confusing abbreviations just to save space. It is annoying
and difficult to read.
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